Michigan unemployment rate rises to 5.0% in August

Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up by one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.0 percent in August, according to data released today by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Employment decreased by 25,000, while the number of unemployed people remained unchanged over the month, resulting in a workforce decline of 25,000 in August.

The uptick was driven by an overall reduction in the state’s workforce in August, as payroll jobs declined due to losses in manufacturing this month, said Wayne Rourke, labor market information director for Michigan’s Center for Data and Analytics. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent in August, leaving Michigan’s August jobless rate 0.9 percentage points higher than the national rate.

Michigan’s labor force participation rate declined by 0.3 percentage points to 58.8 percent over the month, while the employment-population ratio fell by 0.3 percentage points to 55.9 percent in August. According to the monthly survey of employers, Michigan seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment fell by 2,000 to a total of 4,496,000 during August.

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